Friday, February 1, 2008

7.15 Go Pats!!

What's in an American football game? Why, a display of the ultimate eye-limb coordination, of course. It is a major part of the American culture involving thousands of fans congregating in gigantic stadiums (i.e., bowls) every week (or separately in front of TV sets), cheering for their respective home teams. This season so far, Boston's own, the New England Patriots are a record 18-0, and are playing for a historical 19-0 this coming Sunday (3 Feb, 2008), against the New York Giants for the "World" Championship.

The game is essentially one team trying to march across a 100-yard field, by rushing or passing, to put the football in the end zone for 6 points (add 1 more point if the subsequent field goal is successful, for a total of 7 points). And the other team does its best to block the progress. The rules are quite simple. On each possession, a team has 4 chances to gain 10 yards (to reach another "first down") in order to try and gain the next 10 (i.e., a new "first down, 10 to go"). If the attempts fail, then the opposing team has the possession. Often the best part is to watch a harried quarterback tossing the ball up in the air across the field into the awaiting hands of a running receiver who somehow manages to keep both feet just inside the end zone.

The eye-limb coordination operates in this manner: Following a brief discussion of the game plan in a huddle, the ball is snapped to the quarterback who must then look for an open wide receiver and avoid being sacked at the same time. At this moment, both V1 and MT brain areas are highly activated. As soon as the distance to where the receiver maybe is calculated, the motor cortex goes into high gear directing the tossing arm to wind back and throw up the ball. The ball then sails through the often breezy, frigid autumn/winter air into the wide receiver (or a tightend if the star receiver is unavailable). The receiver while running upfield must also look back to see where the ball is and where the defenders are. MT, V1 and motor areas must all coordinate in order to complete the task at hand. All these are accomplished in a matter of seconds.

As far as the eye in football playing:

The players do lose their contacts during tackles; soft disposable lenses with an adequate supply of solution are therefore recommended. Since the game is often played in sub-freezing temperatures, it'll be interesting to know if the physical properties of the lenses are altered. And if the vision is affected as a result.

It is also known that strenuous physical activities, e.g., Marathon running, can significantly lower the intraocular pressure. No studies have been done to investigate any IOP changes from football (or the even more taxing basketball) playing.